Excise Tax on Small Brewers, Distillers Again Up for Debate
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, an author of a temporary two-year reduction in the alcohol excise tax for small producers, is arguing that the businesses deserve the break in perpetuity. The original Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act reduced the tax for two years, and a one-year extension expires at the end of this year.
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Portman, who noted these companies have been hurt by the pandemic's impact on bars and restaurants, says making the tax reduction permanent is popular in both political parties, and he said: “I am leading a bipartisan letter to Senate leadership urging them to include it in the next urgent coronavirus response package so we can quickly pass this critical, widely-supported legislation.”
Unlike other tax extenders, a retroactive fix for the excise tax doesn't work, because it is paid quarterly, instead of in annual income tax filings, Portman said in an opinion piece published in The Hill.